Eugene pearl



2 Sheets Sheet 1.

E. PEARL.

001mm? SHIELD.

(No Model.)

Patented Jan. 12, 1892 INVENTOR- WITNESSES I .4 itorncy.

(No Model.)

WITNESSES Q MW , 2 Sheets-Sheet 2, E. PEARL.

'UNITE- STATESPATENT OFFIC EUGENE PEARL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CORSET-SHIELD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 467,049, dated. January 12, 1892;

Application filed October 27, 1891. Serial No. 409,960. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EUGENE PEARL, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corset-Shields and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to devices which are used to prevent the breaking of the bones and steels of corsets in the parts where they usually break, or which may be applied to corsets after the bones and steels have broken to restore their strength and shape and to prevent the broken ends of the bones and steels from tearing the under-garments, injuring the body of the wearer, or otherwise causing any discomfort. v

The object of my inventionis to provide such a device which may be incorporated with the corset in its manufacture or maybe applied thereto subsequently or worn therewith, and which shall conform perfectly to all positions of the body without wrinkling, shall not increase the size of the waist, shall be light, dainty, durable, and inexpensive, and will not prevent the corsets from being rolled up, as usual.

The base of the improved shield or protector is a wire fabric adapted to be held in place within the corset by suitable means at the parts to be protected. This Ihave found to possess the necessary or desirable qualities of lightness, durability, resistance to the broken ends of corset bones and steels, and capacity to conform perfectly to the body in its movements. Other features are added to produce certain other desirable results, as fully set forth hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a corset having my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail View showing the preferred construction of the shield when manufactured complete in itself, ready for ap plication to the corset. Fig. 3 is a face view of the same. Fig. 4 shows a piece of the wire fabric out in the form which has been found best adapted for use. Fig. 5 is an inside view of a corset having the shield incorporated therewith in its manufacture, the inner lining being partly broken out. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 show different forms in which the shield may be made up.

The corset A is composed of a textile fabric and substantially vertical steels and bones a din the usual manner, and to the inner side thereof at the waist-line is applied a piece of wire fabric B,preferably of ordinary woven-wire fabric of about the weight and size of mesh of fine strainer-sieve.

In order to protect the wire fabric, as well as to provide a convenient means for securing it in place, acovering G or C may be applied over it and is secured in place by stitching, as at D.

\Vhen the shield or protector is intended The three plies may be secured together in any convenient manner, as by stitching, but...

preferably by the application to the opposing.

faces of the covering material of an adhesive gum, such as soft rubber, which will not only preserve the pliability of the shield,-but will protect the wire fabric from the rusting which might be occasioned by the dampness incident to the use of the article.

It has been found desirable, in order to enable the shield to conform perfectly and without wrinkling to the double curvature which it must have when applied at the waist-line over the hips, and to enable it at the same time to yield slightly when the body assumes different positions, to have the piece of wire fabric cut on the bias, as clearly represented in Fig. at, and for the same reasons to employ for the covering-pieces some yielding and elastic material, such as the textile fabric known as stockinet, or a sheet of rubber or other equivalent material.

In some instances or for some wearers it may be considered desirable to supplement the broken steels or bones of the corset by light steels or bones F, which maybe secured to the shield by stitching, as indicated in Fig. 3, or simply by being placed with the wire fabric between the gummed faces of the covering-fabrics C and E. These supplemental steels are placed vertically and impart tothe shield an additional stiffness and resilience.

In some cases the covering material may be applied to one side only of the wire fabric, or slightly overlapping the edge to bind and protect the same, as shown at I in Figs. 6 and 7. If the supplemental steels are employed, their ends may be secured beneath this overturned edge, the intention being that the shield should be worn with the covered side next the wearer.

In Fig. 8 is shown a shield designed to be secured about the body of the wearer before the corset is put on,strings being attached to the shield for convenience in securing it to the body.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the improved shield will not increase the size of the waist, that it will not interfere in the least with the rolling of the corset in-small space when not in use, and that it will not rust. Long-continued tests have shown that its use with new corsets will largely prevent the breakin g of the steels and bones; that its use with broken corsets restores them substantially to their original form; that it absolutely prevents all injury and discomfort from broken steels and bones; that it will not wrinkle with long use, and that its presence causes no discomfort whatever to the wearer.

I am aware that it has been attempted to make a corset altogether of wire fabric with a suitable binding; but such a corset is not practically adapted for actual use and is expensive to manufacture. I am also aware that wire fabric has been used for bosom cups or pads, and that in some cases a wire bosomcup has been covered with an elastic textile fabric. Therefore I do not seek to cover, broadly,the use of wire fabric in the construction'of corsets. My inventionis limited to the production of an improved protector to be applied inside the waist-line of a corset made with steels or bones in the usual manner for the purpose ofpreventing the breaking of such steels and of preventing injury to the wearer of a corset having broken steels. Furthermore, I am aware thatprotectors for use with the ordinary corsets have been made of textile fabric alone, of textile fabric with steels inserted, and of a more or less stiff sheet of various materials, such as celluloid, horn, metal, &c., which must be molded to the shape of the body at the point where it is to be applied. However, owing to the fact that a protector at the waist must have a curvature on both the vertical and the horizontal axis it is inevitable that a protector made of textile fabric alone or of textile fabric with steels must wrinkle after a few days wear and will then become exceedingly uncomfortable to the wearer. Again, if it has sufiicient body to give adequate protection againstinjury by the ends of broken steels, it takes up much room within the corset and is stiff, clumsy, and awkward. The protector, which is molded from a sheet of celluloid, horn, metal, or other similar material, is thin and light and takes up little room within the corset, butby reason of the double curvature whichit must have to [it the body it becomes in use a rigid plate and will not yield with the body in its variousmovements. Being cognizant of all these different protectors and of their defects, I have sought to produce a shield or protector which shall be thin, light, and thoroughly efficient, and at the same time shall conform itself to the shape of the body, shall yield with every movement notwithstanding its double curvature, and shall remain always smooth and free from wrinkles. After many and long-continued experimentsI have found that all of these requirements are met fully by the protector herein described and claimed. I have found, further, that the best results are obtained when the several plies are united firmly to each other throughout their adjacent surfaces, and this can be done without interfering with the pliability of the shield and its capacity to adapt itself to everyshape and movement, not by sewing the plies together, but only by securing them by an adhesive gum.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with a corset composed of a textile fabric and steels or bones, of a shield secured inside thereof at the waistline, said shield consisting of a pieceof wovenwire fabric cut bias and a covering of elastic textile material, substantially as shown and described.

2. A shield for corsets, composed of a piece of woven-wire fabric cut bias and a covering of yielding elastic textile fabric secured thereto and adapted to be secured inside the waistline of the corset, substantially as shown and described.

3. A shield for corsets, composed of a piece of woven-wire fabric cut bias, vertical steels, and a covering of textile fabric all secured together, substantially as shown and described.

Ashield for corsets, composed of a piece of woven-wire fabric anda covering of yield ing elastic textile fabric upon opposite sides of the wire fabric, the opposing faces being united by an adhesive waterproof gum, substantially as shown and described.

5. A shield for corset's, composed of a piece 0f woven-wire fabric cut bias, vertical steels, naine to this specification-in the presence of and. two pieces of yielding textile fabric two subscribing witnesses.

united face to face with the Wire fabric and T 1 steels between theta, by an adhesive water- EUGE1\E PhARL' 5 proof gum, substantially as shown and de- Witnesses:

scribed. A. N. JEsBERA,

In testimony whereof I have signed my A. WIDDER. 

